Electrical cables with spiral-wound, metal casings have always been difficult to prepare for use. As is well known, simply bisecting such a cable at any point, leaves the electrical leads of the cable inaccessibly positioned within the casing. Thus, a portion of the casing, perhaps a foot-long piece, must usually be removed from the end of a cable to permit access to the adjacent leads. To remove a portion of the casing, the cable is doubled back upon itself and the casing is cut with a hacksaw. Not only is the process time-consuming, but it is prone to cause damage to both the skin of an electrician's hands as well as exposed leads when the hacksaw blade slips from its intended path.